The Hungarian government led by Prime Minister Orbán Viktor has come under fire from the European Union.

Belgium is urging EU governments to move ahead with the procedure to deprive Hungary of voting rights.

The European Parliament triggered the first phase of Article 7 - a procedure which could see the country have its voting rights suspended- in 2018, but the process stalled.

The next step is to use the "nuclear option" to impose the most serious political sanctions the bloc can impose on a member country, to suspend the right to vote on EU decisions.

This procedure is used when a country is considered to be at risk of breaching the bloc's core values.

Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib said: "We have a Europe that is making difficult headway, with unfortunately some states — one state in particular — increasingly adopting a transactional, blocking and veto attitude.

“I think we need to have the courage to make decisions: go right to the end of Article 7, activate Article 7 right to the end, which provides for the end of the right of veto."

It comes as Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orbán obstructs EU decision-making on issues such as military aid to Ukraine, sanctions against Russia and welcoming Kyiv into the bloc.

In July, Hungary is set to take over the presidency of the Council of the EU which will give Budapest more power to set the EU agenda.

The European Court of Justice has also fined Hungary €200 million for breaking EU asylum laws.

In December 2020, Hungary failed to comply with the bloc's rules on the treatment of migrants by "unlawfully detaining" asylum seekers and deporting them before they could appeal the rejection of their applications.

The bloc ordered Budapest to make changes to its policies, however, Hungary ignored this judgment.

The #ECJ’s decision to fine #Hungary with 200M euros plus 1M euros daily(!!!) for defending the borders of the European Union is outrageous and unacceptable. It seems that illegal #migrants are more important to the Brussels bureaucrats than their own European citizens.

— Orbán Viktor (@PM_ViktorOrban) June 13, 2024

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The ECJ described the judgement as "deliberately evading the application of the EU common policy," in a statement.

Alongside the fine, Hungary will be charged €1 million per day if they fail to comply with the court's judgement.

On X, the Hungarian Prime Minister voiced his frustration at the judgement calling it "outrageous and unacceptable."

Orbán Viktor said: "The #ECJ’s decision to fine #Hungary with 200M euros plus 1M euros daily(!!!) for defending the borders of the European Union is outrageous and unacceptable. It seems that illegal #migrants are more important to the Brussels bureaucrats than their own European citizens."